I pushed myself a bit this time, as I was aiming for a personal record. But no, I ran the 5k a bit slower than I did at the Airspeed Run. My official time here was 34 mins. and 47 secs, an average of 6mins and 57 seconds per kilometer. I finished 9th out of 256 females. A very big advantage of this was that I did not have to wait in a long line for my turn at the Photovendo. He he.

To narrow down the causes of my slower pace, I decided to check the Airspeed run results again. What I found out was that the women who ran both races all had a better race pace at Airspeed. So either the Greenfield track was not as flat as it seemed (maybe there were some roads that were at an incline), or maybe this particular 5k was in reality a bit longer than 5k.

This inspires me to include some inclines in my training.

Or maybe, my slower pace could be attributed to lack of sleep. Had only four hours of intermittent sleep the previous night, due to my very erratic sleep schedule during the whole week. Erratic sleep schedule is something I really have to live with, I guess. I am first and foremost a musical arranger, after all.

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The Greenfield and Airspeed races were both organized by the team of Coach Rio de la Cruz. I think I’d like to keep going to their races, because they start on time, they’re very organized, and so far my official times were accurate (well, according to my stopwatch). The official times are also released within two days. Some races take more than a week for the official times to come out.

What I liked about the Greenfield Run:
- At around km 4.20, a marching band was playing. This gave runners a boost. In my case, it helped me run my last stretch a bit faster.
- The goodie bags that were handed to finishers contained lots of goodies, including a 15% discount card for Timex watches.
- Official time could already be downloaded from the site the day after the race.
- The scenery was great (beats running in between buildings and busy roads), the greenery was soothing to my eyes.
- Fresh air
- Got a copy of The Bull Runner magazine
- Photovendo




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I’ve been reading up on how to run correctly, and techniques for training. I find that there are contradicting pieces of advice everywhere. Examples of these are:

1. Correct running posture: Run tall vs. Lean forward slightly

Run tall:
- imagine a piece of thread pulling your head up, plus another one pulling your chest slightly outward
- in my experience, this one is more relaxed

Lean forward slightly:
- propels you forward more efficiently, but the advocates of running tall says this could result to overstriding.


2. Footstrike: Heel, ball, or midfoot?

- I think with this, you have to find out for yourself.

3. Correct leg action: Emphasizing “pull” where the quads lift the leg forward, vs. Emphasizing “push” where the leg pushes from the ground, propelling the body forward.

- I’ve tried both of these. “Push” in the first race, and “pull” in the second. I don’t know which is better. Maybe a combination of both?



Maybe it all boils down to what works for you.

(EDIT: April 27, 2009: After a few days of trying “run tall”, I’m convinced that it’s the better alternative, and running with the body positioned in a forward motion will tires me out easily. This was also the position I tried at the Greenfield Run.)

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So, what’s next for me?

I’m set on joining the Southern Race ATC Fun Run, not to set a personal record this time but just to run. And run for a cause too! I’ve convinced Dex to join me in this one.

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Related posts:

Running My 1st 5k Race
2009 Progress Tracker

Tags: greenfield city run,ria osorio,5k,running